Important Ecological Area Research Articles

Quantitative Analysis of the Drivers of the Spatio-temporal Evolution of Vegetation NPP in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Ecological Barrier Area

The Taihangshan-Yanshan Region is an important ecological barrier area in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, and it is of great importance to investigate the spatial distribution pattern and driving mechanism of net primary productivity （NPP） of vegetation for ecological restoration. The MOD17A3HGF.061 NPP dataset was obtained using the Google earth engine（GEE）, and Sen trend, coefficient of variation, partial correlation, complex correlation, and residual analysis were applied to investigate the spatial and temporal patterns of vegetation NPP in the study area and to quantitatively isolate the relative contributions of climate change and human activities. The results showed that： ① The vegetation NPP in the study area showed an overall increasing trend from 2003 to 2021, with a rate of（C-based）2.57 g·（m2·a）-1 and the distribution characteristics of "low in the surroundings and high in the middle" in the Taihangshan area, "high in the north and low in the south" in the Yanshan area, and "low in the north and low in the south" in the Yanshan area. At the same time, the spatial distribution characteristics of "low around and high in the middle" in the Taihangshan area and "high in the north and low in the south" in the Yanshan area were shown. Nearly 70% of the regions had medium or low volatility of vegetation NPP, and 80% of the regions had the opposite trend of future changes. ② The vast majority of NPP changes were positively correlated with precipitation and negatively correlated with temperature, but the significance was not strong； only 23% of the area had a strong correlation between vegetation NPP changes and meteorological factors, and it was concentrated in the central Yanshan Mountains, while the rest of the area was mainly driven by reasons other than climatic factors. ③ Potentially improved （NPPH>0） and potentially degraded （NPPH<0） areas were roughly equally distributed, but human activities played a positive role in most of the areas （79%）； 76% of the areas were dominated by human activities in the actual improved areas and 58% in the actual degraded areas, and human activities were the main factor dominating the NPP succession of vegetation in the study area. The results of this study provide an important reference for the formulation of precise vegetation ecological protection and restoration policies in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei ecological barrier area.

The dynamic adjusted system of sea use fees: An empirical research on the sea use management in Zhejiang province

To prevent excessive exploitation of sea resources by developers, countries around the world have established systems for managing sea use. The system of sea use fees in China is continually improving, but it cannot reflect the full value of marine natural resources. Therefore, an optimization mechanism for dynamic adjustment which considered the value of marine natural resources and the adjustment coefficient of sea area fees was constructed in the study. This study explored the difference between marine resources zoning and the dynamic adjustment standard of sea use fees collection and took Zhejiang province as an example. The results showed that the comprehensive scores of coastal marine resources were generally higher than those of the open sea in Zhejiang province. Furthermore, the comprehensive scores of important ecological areas such as bays and islands were higher than those of other marine areas, and the comprehensive score of Ningbo sea area was significantly higher than those of other sea areas. On the basis, there are six classes of the adjustment range of the sea use fees standard were divided in Zhejiang province in the study. The overall increase of fee was 3.9–8.0 %. The results of study can assist decision-making by evaluating the value of marine resources and the adjustment of sea area usage royalties, which will help to improve the efficiency of sea area management.

The Impact of Rapid Urbanization on the Efficiency of Industrial Green Water Use in Urban Agglomerations around Poyang Lake

The construction of urban agglomerations around Poyang Lake is an important starting point of the strategy for the improvement of central China, but the spatial agglomeration of industry and population brings great pressure to the ecological environment. It is of great practical value to explore the impact of rapid urbanization on the water use efficiency of important ecological functional areas. Considering the undesired output of industrial production, this paper adopts the SE-SBM model to measure industrial green water use efficiency, comprehensively considers different aspects of urbanization of the urban agglomeration around Poyang Lake, empirically tests its inhibiting or boosting effect on industrial green water use and explores its spatial spillover effect with the help of a spatial metrology model. The results show that (1) the industrial green water use efficiency of urban agglomerations shows an overall upward trend, and the efficiency value of central cities is significantly higher than that of non-central cities and continues to show a state of diffusion; (2) social urbanization, environmental urbanization, and balanced urbanization can significantly improve industrial green water use efficiency, while industrial urbanization or industrialization inhibits the improvement in water use efficiency; (3) considering the spatial spillover factor, there are significant positive local effects between population urbanization and balanced urbanization, and significant positive spatial spillover effects between industrial urbanization and environmental urbanization; (4) the original model can pass the significance test by replacing the output-oriented water use efficiency with the input-oriented or non-oriented water use efficiency; the study area is extended to Jiangxi Province, and the impact of urbanization on industrial water use efficiency is basically consistent. We should adhere to the new type of urbanization that improves well-being and is friendly to the environment, rationally plan the industrial spatial pattern of urban agglomerations, adhere to the ecological and environmental threshold on undertaking industrial transfer, and promote the flow and sharing of green production factors.

Construction of landscape ecological network based on MCR risk assessment Model: A case study of Liaoning Province, China

Numerous disorderly expansions of impervious surfaces have resulted from the ongoing urbanization process, eroding the ecological security pattern and exacerbating ecological risks, subsequently leading to a progressive deterioration in its integrity. The tension between the expansion of ecological space and urban spatial expansion is becoming increasingly acute. Exploring the connection between ecological risks in urban landscapes is important for effectively managing regional ecological risks and optimizing patterns of regional ecological security. However, previous studies focus on selecting ecological sources in an ecological network and ignore how ecological resilience is impacted by factors such as species diversity, ecological structure complexity, etc. Based on remote sensing images of Liaoning Province in 2000, 2010, and 2020, the study used the landscape core index as the main indicator of ecological risk assessment, constructed a landscape ecological risk assessment model, and analyzed the spatiotemporal evolution of landscape ecological risk over the past 20 years. The impact of landscape ecological risk on ecological resistance was further explored, and the landscape ecological risk results in 2020 were used as one of the resistance factors to construct a multi-indicator comprehensive resistance surface. After identifying important ecological sources, an ecological network based on the minimum cumulative resistance model (MCR) was constructed, the optimal path connecting important ecological source areas was determined, and the distribution pattern characteristics of the internal ecological network in Liaoning Province were revealed. The findings indicate a general shift in ecological risks from high to low, following a distribution pattern of “high in the east and low in the west”. Additionally, the study identified 8 ecological sources and established 28 ecological corridors, spanning a total length of roughly 8160 km. This study aims to furnish a scientific foundation for developing an ecological security pattern network and optimizing the landscape pattern within Liaoning Province.

Analysis of the multiple drivers of vegetation cover evolution in the Taihangshan-Yanshan region

The Taihangshan-Yanshan region (TYR) is an important ecological barrier area for Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, and the effectiveness of its ecological restoration and protection is of great significance to the ecological security pattern of North China. Based on the FVC data from 2000 to 2021, residual analysis, parametric optimal geodetector technique (OPGD) and multi-scale geographically weighted regression analysis (MGWR) were used to clarify the the multivariate driving mechanism of the evolution of FVC in the TYR. Results show that: (1) FVC changes in the TYR show a slowly fluctuating upward trend, with an average growth rate of 0.02/10a, and a spatial pattern of "high in the northwest and low in the southeast"; more than half of the FVC increased during the 22-year period. (2) The results of residual analysis showed that the effects of temperature and precipitation on FVC were very limited, and a considerable proportion (80.80% and 76.78%) of the improved and degraded areas were influenced by other factors. (3) The results of OPGD showed that the main influencing factors of the spatial differentiation of FVC included evapotranspiration, surface temperature, land use type, nighttime light intensity, soil type, and vegetation type (q > 0.2); The explanatory rates of the two-factor interactions were greater than those of the single factor, which showed either nonlinear enhancement or bifactorial enhancement, among which, the interaction of evapotranspiration with mean air and surface temperature has the strongest effect on the spatial and temporal evolution of FVC (q = 0.75). Surface temperature between 4.98 and 10.4 °C, evapotranspiration between 638 and 762 mm/a, and nighttime light between 1.96 and 7.78 lm/m2 favoured an increase in vegetation cover, and vegetation developed on lysimetric soils was more inclined to be of high cover. (4) The correlation between each variable and FVC showed different performance, GDP, elevation, slope and FVC showed significant positive correlation in most regions, while population size, urban population proportion, GDP proportion of primary and secondary industries, and nighttime light intensity all showed negative correlation with FVC to different degrees. The results can provide data for formulating regional environmental protection and restoration policies.

IRSEI-based monitoring of ecological quality and analysis of drivers in the Daling River Basin

The Daling River Basin is an important ecological functional area in the western region of Liaoning with outstanding environmental problems. The monitoring of ecological and environmental quality in the basin and the analysis of driving factors are of great importance for the protection of the ecological environment and the improvement of economic quality. In this paper, the three periods of Landsat remote sensing images in 1995, 2010 and 2020 are used as the basic data, and platforms and technical means such as RS and GIS are used to decipher and extract the three periods of land use information, and to construct the land use type transfer matrix. The remote sensing ecological index (RSEI) was improved, and the principal component analysis method was applied to construct the improved remote sensing ecological index (IRSEI) model based on the greenness (NDVI), moisture (WET), heat (LST) and new dryness (N-NDBSI), so as to realize the dynamic monitoring of ecological and environmental quality in the study area. Based on the land use change, combined with the trend of improved remote sensing ecological index (IRSEI) of Daling River Basin, thus achieving the purpose of rapid and efficient dynamic monitoring of ecological quality of Daling River Basin from 1995 to 2020. A geoprobe model was then used to systematically assess the drivers of ecological quality in the catchment. The results show that the improved remote sensing ecological index (IRSEI) can efficiently and accurately obtain the spatial distribution pattern and temporal variation trend of IRSEI in the study area, which is more in line with the characteristics of indicators in this study area. The IRSEI in the study area showed an increasing trend from 1995 to 2020, from 0.4794 to 0.5615, and the proportion of benign ecological classes increased year by year during the period. Among the evaluation indicators, NDVI and N-NDBSI are the main factors affecting the environmental and ecological quality of the Daling River Basin, and the increase of vegetation cover, climate regulation and human activities have obvious promoting effects on the improvement of the ecological environment of the Daling River Basin. This study provides a scientific theoretical basis for the implementation of further ecological environmental protection measures.

Analysis of the spatial–temporal evolution and driving factors of carbon emission efficiency in the Yangtze River economic Belt

As an important economic growth pole and ecological area in China, the urban agglomeration of the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) is the key to carbon emission reduction. Exploring the spatial–temporal evolution and driving variables of its carbon emission efficiency (CEE) is crucial for realizing the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. The super-efficiency SBM model, the nuclear density method, and the spatial autocorrelation method were used to discuss the spatial–temporal CEE characteristics of 105 cities in the YREB. On the driving factors of carbon emissions, the geographic detector and the Tobit model were combined to explore the spatial differentiation characteristics of the driving factors from the perspective of heterogeneity, and concurrently analyze the single-factor’s effecting intensity and impacting direction, as well as the dual-factors’ interaction effects. The findings indicated that the CEE of YREB generally showed a slow upward trend during 2006–2021. From the perspective of time dynamic evolution, the differentiation of efficiency intensified, and the overall development was toward the high efficiency level. Furthermore, the results of spatial pattern evolution showed that the CEE presents the pattern of “downstream areas > midstream areas > upstream areas”, “high in the east and low in the west”, “hot in the east and cold in the west”, while the spatial clustering effect was significant, showing the distributions of low-low clustering or high-high clustering. Moreover, the results of the geographic detector showed that government intervention, economic growth, and technological progress were the main driving factors. In addition, the interactions government intervention and the other factors were significantly detected. Tobit regression results showed that technological advancement and economic growth had a favorable impact on CEE, but foreign investment, urbanization, and government involvement had negative impacts. In the future, the correlations between provinces and cities should be strengthened and amplified to promote the integrated green development, as well as to improve the ecological environments.

Traditional Village Morphological Characteristics and Driving Mechanism from a Rural Sustainability Perspective: Evidence from Jiangsu Province

(1) Background: The sustainable development of rural areas has become a critical factor in global economic and social transformation. As an essential part of China’s rural ecological and cultural system, traditional villages are now facing a crisis of yearly decline, and sustainable development has become a meaningful way to solve the problem. This study utilized morphological indicator analysis and the SDGs as an evaluation framework to reveal the correlation and driving factors between traditional villages’ spatial form and sustainability indicators. From the perspective of the spatial form, this approach has specific reference significance for improving the sustainability of traditional villages. (2) Methods: A framework for detecting the driving factors of rural sustainability based on four dimensions (morphology, environment, economy, and society) was constructed. A geographic information system (GIS) was used to analyze the geographic patterns and morphological indicator characteristics of traditional villages in Jiangsu Province, and GeoDetector was used to analyze the driving mechanisms of the spatial patterns of sustainability in traditional villages, providing the basis for spatial zoning and differentiated policy design for the construction, planning, and management of sustainable villages. (3) Results: ➀ The spatial patterns and morphological characteristics of traditional villages exhibit prominent geographical imbalances and significant cluster cores. ➁ The high-density and low-aspect-ratio rural form in the southern region (where rural industries are developed) promotes good economic sustainability in rural areas but also leads to poor environmental performance. The rural areas in the southwest and north (high-density forest areas) have medium density and a high aspect ratio, and the lack of agricultural space and external connections affects their social performance. The main focus is on poverty reduction and urban cooperation. The central and northern lakeside areas and the eastern coastal areas (important ecological protection areas) have low density and high aspect ratios, which have helped them to achieve excellent environmental performance but also led to contradictions in environmental, economic, and social performance. Maintaining low-density patterns, using clean energy, and protecting terrestrial and underwater biodiversity are essential to the sustainability of the rural environment. The agglomeration of spatial patterns promotes cooperation between rural and urban areas and improves industrial development, contributing to the sustainability of the rural economy. Improving social welfare and agricultural development contributes to the sustainability of rural societies. ➂ The impacts of various factors vary significantly; for example, Life below Water (SDG14), Climate Action (SDG13), and No Poverty (SDG1) are the most prominent, followed by Partnerships for the Goals (SDG17), Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG7), and Recent Work and Economic Growth (SDG8). (4) Conclusions: It is recommended that the government, with the driving mechanisms, divide the spatial management zoning of traditional villages in Jiangsu into three types of policy areas: environmental-oriented, economic-oriented, and social-oriented. Differentiated and targeted suggestions should be proposed to provide a critical decision-making basis for protecting and utilizing traditional villages in Jiangsu and similar provinces, as well as to help promote rural revitalization and sustainable rural construction in China.

Spatiotemporal Distribution Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Freeze–Thaw Erosion in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Freeze–thaw (FT) erosion intensity may exhibit a future increasing trend with climate warming, humidification, and permafrost degradation in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP). The present study provides a reference for the prevention and control of FT erosion in the QTP, as well as for the protection and restoration of the regional ecological environment. FT erosion is the third major type of soil erosion after water and wind erosion. Although FT erosion is one of the major soil erosion types in cold regions, it has been studied relatively little in the past because of the complexity of several influencing factors and the involvement of shallow surface layers at certain depths. The QTP is an important ecological barrier area in China. However, this area is characterized by harsh climatic and fragile environmental conditions, as well as by frequent FT erosion events, making it necessary to conduct research on FT erosion. In this paper, a total of 11 meteorological, vegetation, topographic, geomorphological, and geological factors were selected and assigned analytic hierarchy process (AHP)-based weights to evaluate the FT erosion intensity in the QTP using a comprehensive evaluation index method. In addition, the single effects of the selected influencing factors on the FT erosion intensity were further evaluated in this study. According to the obtained results, the total FT erosion area covered 1.61 × 106 km2, accounting for 61.33% of the total area of the QTP. The moderate and strong FT erosion intensity classes covered 6.19 × 105 km2, accounting for 38.37% of the total FT erosion area in the QTP. The results revealed substantial variations in the spatial distribution of the FT erosion intensity in the QTP. Indeed, the moderate and strong erosion areas were mainly located in the high mountain areas and the hilly part of the Hoh Xil frozen soil region.

Construction of ecological network in Qujing city based on MSPA and MCR models.

With the rapid advancement of urbanization and industrialization, ecological patches within cities and towns are fragmented and ecological corridors are cut off, regional ecological security is threatened and sustainable development is hindered. Building an ecological network that conforms to regional realities can connect fragmented patches, protect biodiversity and regional characteristics, and provide scientific reference for regional ecological protection and ecological network planning. By taking Qilin District, the main urban area of Qujing City as an example, and using geospatial data as the main data source, based on morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) and minimum cumulative resistance (MCR), this study identified ecological source areas, extracted ecological corridors, and build & optimize ecological networks. (1) All landscape types are identified based on MSPA, the proportion of core area was the highest among all landscape types, which was 80.69%, combined with the connectivity evaluation, 14 important ecological source areas were selected. (2) 91 potential ecological corridors were extracted through MCR and gravity models, there were 16 important ones. (3) The network connectivity analysis method is used to calculate the α, β, and γ indexes of the ecological network before optimization, which were 2.36, 6.5, and 2.53, while after optimization, α, β and γ indices were 3.8, 9.5 and 3.5, respectively. The combined application of MSPA-MCR model and ecological network connectivity analysis evaluation is conducive to improving the structure and functionality of ecological network.

Suggestions on the Development and Utilization of Clean Energy in Xizang

The 14th Five Year Plan of the country clearly points out the need to promote the energy revolution, accelerate energy technology innovation, and build a clean, low-carbon, safe, and efficient modern energy system. Therefore, the development and utilization of clean energy is of great practical significance in the context of the national scientific outlook on development. As an important ecological protection area in China, it is an inevitable trend for Xizang's future economic and social development to use clean energy as energy support. Therefore, accelerating the development and utilization of clean energy in Xizang is of great significance to respond to the national energy strategy, the economic development of the autonomous region, ecological environment protection, and regional stability and prosperity. In view of the problems in the development and utilization of clean energy in Xizang, this paper puts forward suggestions to help achieve the dual carbon goal, so as to promote the rapid development of clean energy development and utilization industry in Xizang.

2018–2022年青海省主要湖泊蓄水量时空变化数据集

Qinghai Province is an important ecological function area, which is located in the inland of Northwest China. Qinghai Province is abundant in the total amount of water resource, but the spatial-temporal distribution of water resource in Qinghai Province is extremely uneven. Moreover, due to the factors such as climate and geographical environment, most lakes lack monitoring for a long time. As a significant carrier of surface water resource, lakes are important indicators for studying the impact of climate change and human activities on the water cycle process. The domestic GF-1 and GF-6 satellites have the ability to observe the earth repeatedly for a period of 2 days by collaborating, thus the surface water area can be obtained at high frequency. A high-precision surface water level can be acquired by ICESat-2, which has centimeter-level height measurement accuracy. The water area derived from GF-1/6 and water level derived from ICESat-2 were adopted to build the models for monitoring spatial-temporal variation of water storage of lakes in Qinghai Province. We developed a dataset of spatial-temporal variation of lake water storage in Qinghai Province during 2018–2022 via the models. The monitoring accuracy of the dataset had been verified with an overall accuracy better than 93%, which meets the needs of remote sensing monitoring of spatial-temporal variation of lake water storage. The dataset contains a total of 60 monthly storage variation of 33 lakes an area of more than 30 km2 in Qinghai Province during 2018–2022. These lakes are mainly distributed in the west, north and southeast of Qinghai Province. The dataset can provide basic data support for lake, hydrological and climate change process monitoring, dynamic evaluation of water resources, and optimization of water resources management and scheduling in Qinghai Province.

Spatio-Temporal Evaluation of Water Resources System Resilience and Identification of Its Driving Factors in the Yellow River Basin

Water resources are crucial for the development of ecosystems and humanity. The Yellow River Basin (YRB), as an important ecological area in China, is facing significant challenges in ecological protection and high-quality development due to global climate change and intense human activities. In order to alleviate the water resources crisis in the YRB, it is necessary to calculate the resilience of the water resources system and identify the main influencing factors. This paper considered the factors of water resources, social economy, and ecological environment, then constructed an evaluation framework of the water resources system resilience (WRSR) from three aspects: resistance, restoration, and adaptability. Taking nine provinces along the YRB as a case study, the WRSR was measured by using the entropy weight TOPSIS model, and its driving factors were analyzed with Geographical Detectors (GD). The results showed that: (1) From 2010 to 2022, the WRSR in the Yellow River Basin and various provinces was showing a fluctuating increasing trend, in which Ningxia had the highest average WRSR (0.646), while Shanxi had the lowest (0.168). (2) From three dimensions, the development trends of resistance, restoration, and adaptability in the YRB and various provinces from 2010 to 2022 were relatively stable. Shandong’s resistance level far exceeded that of other provinces, having the highest average resistance value (0.692), and Ningxia had the highest average value of restoration (0.827) and adaptability (0.711). However, Gansu had the lowest average value of resistance (0.119), Sichuan had the lowest average value of restoration (0.097), and Shandong had the lowest average value of adaptability (0.110). (3) In terms of impact factors, the development and utilization rate of water resources (C13) and the development and utilization rate of surface water resources (C14) in the restoration subsystem consistently ranked in the top two of influencing factors. Similarly, the water consumption per 10,000 yuan of GDP (C26) in the adaptability subsystem consistently ranked within the top ten. On the other hand, the natural population growth rate (C6) in the resistance subsystem, as well as the impact of ammonia nitrogen emissions (C9) and total precipitation (C2) in wastewater, exhibited an upward trend. Based on these, this paper provides relevant suggestions for improving the WRSR in the YRB.

Construction and optimization of ecological security patterns in the songnen plain

To address the ecological security issues in the Songnen Plain, this study constructs the ecological security pattern by using the Multi-Criteria Evaluation Method, Minimum Cumulative Resistance (MCR) model, and Circuit Connectivity Model. Results show that: 1) The ecological source areas were 66, 52, and 56 blocks in 2000, 2010, and 2020 respectively, which are composed mainly of forests, water bodies, and wetlands. The distribution of resistance values of the ecological resistance surface shows a gradually increases trend from the source areas to the outward surrounding regions. The high and low value areas are more dispersed, consisting with the overall spatial distribution; 2) The numbers of ecological corridors show a temporal declining trend from 178 in 2000 to 159 in 2020 with a reduction of 645.46 km in total length. Node areas are mainly distributed in the southwestern and central-eastern regions and its number decreased from 232 in 2000 to 229 in 2020. The sizes of obstacle areas are 74029.52 km2, 70203.72 km2, and 75529.72 km2 in the three periods; 3) The size of important ecological source areas has decreased by 5779.16 km2, the area of medium ecological source areas has increased by 11466.44 km2, and the area of general ecological source areas has increased by 9509.16 km2. The areas being classified as ecological conservation, ecological enhancement, ecological restoration, and ecological control are 30346.68 km2, 8480.56 km2, 51473.92 km2, and 122047.48 km2, respectively. The multiple spatial pattern optimization strategies are proposed based on the identified ecological source areas, corridors, node points, and other comprehensive ecological security patterns. It not only provides practical reference for the ecological restoration and ecological protection in the Songnen Plain, but also can be used for the ecological security pattern investigations in other study regions in the world.

Synergistic ecological network approach for sustainable development of highly urbanized area in the Bay Bottom region: A study in Chengyang District, Qingdao

Rapid urbanization has put the marine environment under great threat, and cities in the Bay Bottom area are more likely to cause a large number of ecological problems in urban development and construction due to their special land-sea interaction environment. Ecological network is an effective solution to coordinate regional ecological protection and sustainable urban development. This study focused on Chengyang District, one of the highly urbanized areas at the bottom of Jiaozhou Bay in Qingdao, China, was using Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) to initially identify ecological source areas and extracting important ecological source areas in conjunction with the landscape connectivity assessment, and was determining ecological resistance values based on the importance of ecosystem services, and was optimizing ecological network by the minimum cumulative resistance model (MCR) and network structure analysis. The results indicated that: (1) the habitat in Chengyang District is severely fragmented, and the ecological network structure has significant features in terms of source area, type and corridor distribution, with a low percentage of source area, identification of characteristic source types such as reservoirs, wetlands, and aquaculture ponds, while the corridors are concentrated in the area of rivers and bays, and there is fragmentation in the inland areas of the city. (2) Preliminarily, 15 ecological source sites were identified, mainly distributed in the vicinity of Jiaozhou Bay Wetland, Jihongtan Reservoir and Laoshan Mountain, among which, Jiaozhou Bay Wetland is the most important ecological source in Chengyang District. Thirty-two ecological nodes and 24 ecological corridors were constructed. (3) By increasing the inland ecological sources in Chengyang District, the optimized ecological network forms a spatial pattern of “four cores, three belts, and four districts”, and proposes and formulates targeted ecological protection and management strategies to promote the sustainable development of the urban areas in the bottom of the bay. In addition, this study provides a new reference for the global ecological protection of cities in the bay area by improving the ecological network of cities in the Bay Bottom area.

Identifying regional eco-environment quality and its influencing factors: A case study of an ecological civilization pilot zone in China

Jiangxi Province is one of the first ecological civilization pilot zones (ECPZ) in China. The assessment of eco-environment quality (EQ) assessment and its future trends are of great significance to the maintenance of ecological security in Jiangxi Province and the construction of other pilot zones in China. Here, we propose an extended remote sensing ecological index (ERSEI), and then analyze its spatiotemporal distribution features and trends; we combine this with the optimal parameters-based geographical detector (OPGD) model to quantify the influencing factors, and further explore the future trends and prospects of the ERSEI. Our results show that: (1) Compared with the remote sensing ecological index (RSEI), the ERSEI can more effectively reflect regional differences in EQ. (2) Areas with an excellent ERSEI are mainly located in the important ecological barrier areas of Jiangxi Province, whereas areas with poor or worst ERSEI values correspond to the spatial distribution of the Nanchang metropolitan circle, town clusters, and urban development axes. (3) The ERSEI in Jiangxi Province improved in 72.50% of the study area from 2001 to 2021. (4) Slope, population density, and elevation are the key factors affecting the ERSEI, with the interaction between slope and population density explaining 79.9% of the variance in the ERSEI spatial distribution. (5) The areas predicted to see future rises and falls in the ERSEI in Jiangxi Province at 56.55 × 103 and 96.24 × 103 km2, respectively. These research results can provide support for Jiangxi Province to achieve sustainable development and ecological civilization construction, while also providing an ERSEI that effectively identifies regional differences and acts as a new reference to further EQ research.

A study of the impact of digital technology on industrial ecologisation in the Yellow River Basin of China

The Yellow River Basin is an important ecological barrier and economic core area in China, with problems such as fragile ecological environment and ecosystem degradation, and promoting industrial ecological transformation in resource cities is an important way to protect and improve the ecological and logical environment of the Yellow River Basin. Using panel data of 35 resource-based cities in the Yellow River Basin from 2012 to 2021, the impact of digital technology on industrial colonisation is empirically explored. The study finds (1) digital technology has a driving effect on the industrial ecological transformation of resource-based cities in the Yellow River Basin, and can be a new production tool to stimulate economic vitality; there is obvious regional heterogeneity in the impact of digital technology on industrial ecology, which significantly promotes the industrial ecological transformation of mid-stream and declining resource-based cities, and the facilitating effect is more obvious for declining resource-based cities. (2) From the moderating effect, fiscal decentralisation positively moderates the non-linear relationship between digital technology and industrial ecology. (3) From the perspective of threshold effect, the impact of digital technology on industrial ecologisation has a double threshold effect based on fiscal decentralisation, i.e. at the early stage of digital technology development, a reasonable degree of fiscal decentralisation can significantly promote the industrial ecological transformation of resource cities, but after the development of digital technology to a certain extent, the impact of fiscal decentralisation on industrial ecologisation will be gradually weakened, and will even bring negative effects to industrial transformation. Therefore, improving the development system of digital technology, giving the government moderate financial autonomy, and at the same time adhering to the local conditions and exploring the ecological development road in line with the characteristics of resource cities in the Yellow River Basin have positive significance for the industrial ecological transformation of resource cities in the Yellow River Basin.

Analysis of Economic Resource Ecological Environment Coupling Coordination in Qinghai Province

Qinghai Province is the birthplace of the Yellow River, Yangtze River and Lancang River, which is an important water source and ecological sensitive area in China. Analyzing the coupling and coordination of economy, resources and ecological environment in Qinghai Province is of great significance for promoting the sustainable development of Qinghai Province and exploring the path of coordinated development of ecology and economy. The comprehensive evaluation index system of economic development, resource conditions and ecological environment was constructed. Based on the relevant data from 2011 to 2021, the entropy method and coupling coordination degree model were used to analyze the coordination relationship among the three systems. The results show that the coupling effect and coordination relationship among economic development, resource conditions and ecological environment in Qinghai Province have been improved, but the overall coordination degree is still not strong. Therefore, Qinghai province needs to continuously promote ecological economy and economic ecology, and actively explore a new path of coordinated development between ecology and economy.

Identification of ecological improvement zones in different ecological functional zones in northwest Hubei, China

In order to protect natural ecosystems, areas that can provide higher ecosystem services are usually designated as ecological priority protection areas. However, some areas with good natural and socio-cultural conditions (called ecological improvement zones in this study, EIZs) that do not provide the highest ecosystem services are often ignored. Therefore, this study attempts to use ecological functional zones as the research unit. And delineating the EIZs by combining multiple critical impact thresholds of ecosystem health (EH) change. Northwestern Hubei Province (NWHB), an important ecological function area in China, was selected as the study area. The results show that (1) the landscape of cultivated land tends to be fragmented, due to being occupied by a large amount of rural–urban land; (2) from 2000 to 2020, the EH in NWHB gradually improved; (3) spatially, the western region of NWHB is dominated by multiple ESs synergetic zone, while the eastern region is a food provision zone; and (4) except for GDP and population density, which are monotonically negatively correlated with EH, all other natural and anthropogenic factors have critical impact thresholds. The critical impact thresholds vary significantly among different ecological functional zones in different periods (e.g., In biodiversity - carbon storage synergetic zone, the threshold of DEM of around less than 1150 m in 2000 decreased to 480 m in 2005 with a clear trend of EH improvement). Meanwhile, from 2000 to 2020, EIZs are mainly distributed in key synergistic bundles in different periods. This study aims to provide services for the planning and management of ecological functional zones.

Ecological Risk Assessment and Source Identification of Heavy Metals in Soils from Shiyang River Watershed in Northwest China.

Shiyang River Watershed is an important ecological barrier and agricultural production area in Northwest China, and the study of soil heavy metal content, distribution, and sources is important for agricultural product safety, pollution control, and ecosystem health. In this paper, 140 soil samples were collected from 28 stations to assess the level of heavy metal (Arsenic (As), Copper (Cu), Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd), Chromium (Cr), Mercury (Hg), Nickel (Ni), Zinc (Zn)) contamination, pollutant sources and influencing factors of soil in Shiyang River Watershed through determination of the metal contents and statistical analysis. The results indicated that the soils in the study area are typical saline soils in arid zones. The enrichment factors (EF) of As, Cr, Cu, Ni, Zn, and Pb indicate no contamination, and the EFs of Cd and Hg suggested minor contamination. Although the concentrations of Cd and Hg in soil are lower than others, they are more biotoxic and exhibit a moderate-high ecological risk. The index of geoaccumulation (Igeo) values reflect that most of the stations, especially the three groups of samples from depths of 10-20 cm, 20-40 cm, and 40-80 cm, are below the contamination threshold for all heavy metals. The chemical speciation of heavy metals, principal component analysis, and correlation analysis showed that Cr, Cu, Pb, Cd, Ni, and Zn mainly come from the natural accumulation upon weathering of soil-forming matrices. Hg and As mainly come from anthropogenic contributions. The effect of agricultural crop cultivation on soil heavy metal contamination is mainly through farm irrigation and crop-soil interactions, which accelerate the release of heavy metals through the weathering of soil-forming parent material and irrigation, which transports the heavy metals below the surface. The results of this study can provide a scientific basis for the involved authorities to formulate reasonable policies on environmental protection and pollution control.